Archive for
November 5th, 2008

The AP reports: Amare Stoudemire scored 49 points, falling a point short of his career high in the Phoenix Suns’ 113-103 victory over Indiana on Wednesday night. Stoudemire was 17-for-21 from the field, made 15 free throws without a miss and had 11 rebounds, six assists and five steals. He just missed his career high of 50 points, set against Portland on Jan. 2, 2005.

The young Nets have some growing pains, especially on the defensive side of the floor. The Newark Star-Ledger reports: If you ask Lawrence Frank where his team is going wrong, he’ll pull out a list. The majority of the Nets’ problems pertain to their youth — lacking an understanding of positioning and tendencies, leading to game plan mistakes and bad technique and despair — and he is convinced they’ll solve them in time. But aggressiveness is also an issue. Fact: In their first three games, Nets defenders have drawn a total of five charging fouls, even though they’ve had roughly 40 chances to draw one.

Bucks shooting guard Michael Redd missed Wednesday’s game. But he’ll be back soon. The AP reports: Michael Redd, expected to return Friday night at Boston, was injured Sunday against New York when he landed awkwardly chasing a loose ball in Milwaukee’s 94-86 victory.

Bobcats coach Larry Brown, who coached the Knicks in a mess of a season, moved on long ago from the New York experience. The Associated Press reports: “I just didn’t do what was expected of me, so I move on,” Larry Brown said before the game. “I was the coach here, so I realize what our record was and I can understand what Mr. Dolan was thinking, so you move on. But I don’t get any pleasure in anybody struggling.” … “Whatever happened, happened for a reason,” Brown said. “I don’t think Mr. Dolan didn’t give it a lot of thought and have input from a lot of people, and he decided it was best to move in another direction. He expected a lot from me and I guess I didn’t give him that and so you’ve got to respect that. He moved on, and I moved on.”

The Arizona Republic (Paul Coro) reports: Suns center Shaquille O’Neal is back in the starting lineup for tonight’s game because starting forward Matt Barnes left the team moments ago for a family emergency in the Bay Area.

The San Francisco Examiner (Matt Steinmetz) reports: 1) Where are the young ’uns?: Don Nelson talked all summer of using Brandan Wright and Marco Belinelli. He also talked up the talent and skill level of rookie Anthony Randolph. Through four games, Wright has played 24 minutes, Belinelli four minutes and Randolph a minute-and-a-half. That’s not good. 2) Corey Maggette’s start: It hasn’t been a good beginning to his Warriors career. He’s shooting terribly from the field, and his hamstrings are acting up. Certainly, Maggette’s field-goal percentage is going to improve, but he hasn’t proven he can score meaningful points or get to the line and convert in critical situations. 3) Point problem: DeMarcus Nelson is doing everything he can. Watson is giving you exactly what you’d expect he give you. And Marcus Williams has been buried.

The Los Angeles Daily News (Ramona Shelburne) reports: New Clipper Baron Davis, disappointed after the team’s season-opening 117-79 loss to the Lakers on Oct. 29, tried to keep things in perspective during postgame interviews. The Clippers, after all, were playing together for basically the first time that night, against one of the best teams in the league. “Did I expect to lose like that? No. Do I expect us to go 0-7? No,” Davis said… “A win would help,” Davis said. “A win would defintely help lift our spirits. We need to figure out what a win feels like as a unit. “We’re a work in progress, so it’s going to take some patience. No one is in panic mode yet.” True, but there is a sense of urgency. Davis himself felt that Monday night against Utah, when he decided to play on his badly bruised hip about five minutes before tipoff.

The Salt Lake Tribune (Ross Siler) reports: The next election of concern for the Utah Jazz comes this winter, when the committees which screen nominees for possible induction into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame go to work. The Jazz could be well-represented when finalists are selected during All-Star Weekend in February and when the Class of 2009 is announced during the Final Four in April. John Stockton - the NBA’s all-time assists and steals leader, who retired in 2003 - is eligible for the Hall of Fame for the first time. Jerry Sloan, on the threshold of becoming the first NBA coach to win 1,000 games with the same franchise, is also Hall-of-Fame eligible. The Jazz have submitted the paperwork necessary to start the nomination process for Stockton and Sloan, and they will certainly do the same next year, when Karl Malone becomes eligible for the first time.

Danny Granger’s 33 points at Detroit on Wednesday, October 29, were the most by a Pacers’ player in the season’s first game since Jalen Rose hit for 43 points at New Jersey, October 30, 2001.

Since scoring nine points at Detroit in February, Granger has scored in double figures in a career-high 29 straight regular season games.

Boston’s 79 points in the Pacers’ home opener were the fewest ever allowed by Indiana in its NBA home opener.

With its sellout crowd of 18,165 in the home opener vs. Boston, November 1, the Pacers’ matched their total of sellouts in 2007-08.

The win over the Celtics was Indiana’s fifth in a game in which it did not score 100 points since Jim O’Brien became head coach in 2007. In that span, the Pacers are 5-26 when not reaching the century mark.

Marquis Daniels’ team-high 10 rebounds vs. Boston were his most ever in a Pacers’ uniform and tied his overall career-best.

Troy Murphy registered the Pacers’ first double-double of the 2008-09 season with 13 points and a game-high 15 boards at Detroit, October 29. His 14 defensive rebounds in that game matched his most ever with the Pacers.

Murphy had a game-high five assists in the win over Boston and he has led the team in assists 10 times in its last 58 regular season games.

Last season, the Pacers were ninth in the NBA with an average of just over five blocked shots a game (5.02 bpg). Thus far in 2008-09, the Pacers have averaged a league-leading 8.0 bpg.

The AP reports: Ray Allen scored 29 points, Kevin Garnett added 14 points and 11 rebounds and the Celtics shut down Ron Artest and Yao Ming to hand Houston its first loss of the season. Tracy McGrady scored 26 points, but couldn’t rally the Rockets down the stretch… Paul Pierce added 13 points and nine rebounds for the Celtics. Yao went 4-for-14 from the field and scored eight points for Houston. “Probably one of my worst games of all time,” Yao said… Aaron Brooks scored 12 for the Rockets, but starting point guard Rafer Alston had an off night, going 1-for-6 from the field and scoring four points.

The AP reports: Jason Terry scored 29 points, Dirk Nowitzki added 30 points and the Dallas Mavericks beat San Antonio 98-81 on Tuesday night to send the Spurs to their first 0-3 record in 35 years… Dallas (2-2) also got 14 points from Josh Howard and 10 assists from Jason Kidd. The Mavericks shot 53 percent from the floor compared to 42 for San Antonio. Dallas outrebounded San Antonio 48-38… Tony Parker led San Antonio with 22 points and Tim Duncan scored 19 as the Spurs continue to play without Manu Ginobili. He’s not expected back until December after surgery to repair his left ankle. “Uncharted territory for us,” Duncan said of the 0-3 start.

The AP reports: Raja Bell hit all six of his 3-pointers and scored 22 points, and the Phoenix Suns shot 63 percent from the field in beating the 114-86 on Tuesday night… Nash added 12 points and 11 assists, O’Neal had 18 points and six rebounds, and Stoudemire added 14 points as the Suns won for the third time in four games… Vince Carter had 19 points and Yi Jianlian added 15 and eight rebounds for the Nets, who lost their second straight game… For the game, the Suns were 43-of-68 from the field, and 12-of-18 from 3-point range. The Nets shot 34 percent, hitting 28 of 83 shots.